Intel beefs up on-chip security
Intel is to introduce new motherboards in the fourth quarter that incorporate Wave Systems' security software to combat theft and unauthorised copying of data.
The news came in an announcement from Wave on Thursday. The company's software enables a chip, called the Trusted Platform Module, that handles the additional security functions. The TPM, designed by the Trusted Computing Group, will encrypt and decrypt documents and is said to ensure that documents are stored in secure places of a PC.
"Wave helps fill a critical requirement for trusted computing services," said Michelle Johnston, acting director of marketing for Intel Desktop Board Operations. "We believe the EMBASSY Trust Suite software will provide good value for our customers looking for trusted computing applications. Embassy, or Embedded Application Security System, is the name of Wave's product.
The Trusted Computing Group, a consortium of companies which aim to establish standards for security, includes Advanced Micro Devices, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel and Microsoft.
Privacy advocates have criticised the TPM system saying that rather than securing data, it will be used to monitor consumers' use of music, film and software for licensing purposes.
